Brooklyn, New York-based early music ensemble BaroQue Across the River will perform “Elegance & Extravagance: Cantatas and Solos from France & Italy” on December 3-4, 2010 in New York City. The December 3 concert will be held at 7:30pm at Brooklyn Friends Meeting House, 110 Schermerhorn Street, Brooklyn (718.643.4608); The December 4, 8:00pm concert will be held at Tenri Cultural Institute, 43A West 13th Street, in Manhattan (914.633.0758). Tickets are $20.00 (suggested donation) at door for both concerts.

Two rival styles dominated European music in the late 17th – early 18th Century — the delicate and demure French style favored elegant melodies in contrast to the more passionate, virtuosic and extravagant style of Italian music. In “Elegance & Extravagance: Cantatas and Solos from France & Italy” BaroQue Across the River offers selections of this exuberant contrast with music by Rameau, Clérambault, Scarlatti, Couperin, and Vivaldi.

BaroQue Across the River is dedicated to bringing unique programming of 18th century masterpieces to a 21st century audience, performing on original instruments in historic settings around the greater Metropolitan area as well as touring. The ensemble consists of founder/director Kathleen McDonald, flute; Michèle Eaton, soprano; Lisa Terry, violoncello and viola da gamba; and Jennifer Griesbach, harpsichord. Concert venues have included museums, historical societies, mansions, churches, colleges, and early music concert series. Since 2003, they have partnered with the Brooklyn Historical Society offering public concerts in conjunction with their exhibits and celebrations. They were among a select group of artists chosen as New York’s finest early music ensembles performing at the New York Times Center, as part of GEMS Early Music/Early Season series.  They have performed for ARTEK’s Midtown Concert Series, Mount Vernon Museum, the Bruce Museum, Music on the Heights at the famed Plymouth Church of the Pilgrims, The Wyckoff House Museum, Akwaaba Mansion, Lefferts House in Prospect Park and Brooklyn Borough Hall. In addition to returning for a concert on the Midtown Concert Series, the group’s 2010-11 season will include concerts at Brooklyn’s Quaker Meeting House, Tenri Cultural Institute, and the Fullerton Friends of Music series in Los Angeles, California, in celebration of Early Music America’s 25th Anniversary.

OTHER UPCOMING CONCERTS:

February 2, 2011, 1:15pm: Midtown Concerts
“The French Cantata: Love, Longing & Triumph!”
East 88th Street and Lexington Ave, New York City.

February 27, 2011, 3:30pm: Fullerton Friends of Music, LA, CA
“The French Cantata: Love, Longing & Triumph!”
For Early Music America’s 25th Anniversary.

May 1, 2011, 3:00pm: Brooklyn Historical Society – Program TBA

Pianist Isabelle O’Connell and Flutronix (flutists Nathalie Joachim and Allison Loggins-Hull) will perform as part of Music at First on Friday, November 5th, 2010 at 7:30pm. This new music series is held at First Presbyterian Church of Brooklyn, located at 124 Henry Street in Brooklyn Heights. Tickets are $10 at the door. Contact [email protected] for more info. Directions are at www.fpcbrooklyn.org.

MUSIC AT FIRST (www.musicatfirstsite.com), curated by Wil Smith (composer who also serves as organist at First Presbyterian), occurs monthly, featuring two performers or ensembles per evening. A diverse mix of New York City’s best ensembles and performers, accessible to a wide audience of both community members and seasoned listeners, Music at First has been described by Steve Smith in The New York Times as a “vibrant, eclectic new-music series.” This season has included performances by Kyle Bobby Dunn, guitar quartet Dither, bassist Eleonore Oppenheim and sound artist Lesley Flanigan. Phthia and Slow/Fast will close the season on Dec. 3rd.

Originally from Dublin and currently based in New York, ISABELLE O’CONNELL (www.isabelleoconnell.com) is one of Ireland’s most successful pianists, with a growing international career that has taken her across four continents. Her debut CD, RESERVOIR, was recently released on the Diatribe label and features works for solo piano by nine contemporary Irish composers. Described as “the young Irish piano phenom” by the New Yorker, she has also been described by Sequenza21 as a pianist who “plays with power, clarity and commitment.” She has a reputation for being a dynamic interpreter and energetic advocate of music by 20th and 21st century composers, and is a regular commissioner of new works. In 2007, Isabelle was co-Artistic Director of “New Music, New Ireland, New York”, a concert that showcased contemporary Irish composers at Carnegie’s Weill Recital Hall. Isabelle has toured Australia and the U.S. with the CRASH ensemble, and has also performed with John Adams at Zankel Hall, Meredith Monk at the Bang on a Can Festival, Alarm Will Sound, the New Zealand String Quartet and as soloist with the National Symphony Orchestra of Ireland. Isabelle’s performances have been broadcast on television and radio on both sides of the Atlantic, including WNYC, WFMT Chicago, WQXR, BBC3 and RTE.

Nathalie Joachim and Allison Loggins-Hull are FLUTRONIX (www.flutronix.com), a pair of fresh and eclectic flutists who are paving the way from their classical roots to the future of music. Performing the works of notable pioneers of new music along side their own creations, Flutronix displays an innovative combination of flute and mixed media elements. Their original compositions comfortably navigate daring forms of popular, experimental, and contemporary classical music while implementing electronics and digital effects. Quickly becoming a staple in the New York City indie-classical scene, Flutronix has performed their signature act at leading new music venues including Galapagos Art Space, The Tank and The Cell. Flutronix has provided live underscoring for theatrical productions and worked with artists/ensembles of various disciplines including members of the Sirius string quartet, music producer/composer Shahla Atlas, drummer Joe Blaxx and Blind Ear Music. Their performances have been broadcast on WKCR and on WNYC’s webcast of “Battle of the Boroughs” where they competed as Brooklyn finalists.

FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH OF BROOKLYN (FPC) is committed to supporting the arts in the community, and has been noted by Lucid Culture blog as as “doing double duty as comfortable neighborhood hang and avant garde central for the budget conscious.”  FPC is an open and intentionally diverse congregation, by race, culture, age, theology, and sexual orientation.

Bach-centric, about to be released by saxophonist Dave Camwell on the Teal Creek Music label, is a collection of beloved works by Johann Sebastian Bach, arranged for saxophone. Five cuts on this CD feature Camwell on soprano, alto, tenor, and baritone saxophones in multiple overdubbed tracks. Other selections include performances by Camwell with saxophonists Stephen Page, James Romain, James Bunte, and Nathan Nabb. While most of these unique arrangements have been created by Camwell, other distinguished arrangers Ron Caravan, Charlie Vetter, and Ken Abeling are also featured.

In addition to Bach-centric, Camwell has released a previous classical CD, Aeterna (2008) on the Teal Creek label to critical acclaim. Aeterna includes works by John Anthony Lennon, Niccolò Paganini, J.S. Bach, Ron Albrecht, Steven Galante, Nate Brown and Robert Schumann. Both discs were funded by grants from the Iowa Arts Council.

Dr. Dave Camwell is a distinguished, versatile and dynamic performer. He is a Yamaha and Rico Performing Artist and currently serves as Assistant Professor of Saxophone and Jazz Studies at Simpson College, Indianola, IA. Camwell has received degrees from the University of Calgary (B.Mus, dual degree in Jazz Studies and Education, in collaboration with Jacksonville State University), the University of Northern Colorado (M.Mus, dual degree in Performance and Education), and the University of Oregon (D.M.A in Performance with a secondary emphasis in Jazz Studies).

Camwell has over twenty publications available through Dorn Publications and the University of Northern Colorado Jazz Press. His transcriptions have been performed across Canada, the United States, Great Britain and China. A notable performance of one of his transcriptions (Schumann’s Fantasiestücke) was given by James Bunte and Dr. David Riley in Carnegie Hall in 2006. He also writes a regular column for Saxophone Journal and has recorded two CD Master Classes for the publication – John Anthony Lennon’s Aeterna (March/April 2007) and Mozart’s Dissonance Quartet (January/February 2010). The Mozart Dissonance project garnered Camwell Simpson College’s Distinguished Faculty Research Award in May, 2010.

This fall, Camwell will tour with the Oasis Quartet (www.oasisquartet.com). They will be performing at the Universities of North Texas and Stephen. F. Austin, as well as well-known Milby High School in Houston, Oct 21-24. Camwell will be performing Bach repertoire featured on the Bach-centric CD at recitals throughout the Midwest starting in January, 2011 and at the North American Saxophone Alliance Region 3 Conference in March 2011.

Physical and Digital distribution for Bach-centric is available through CDBaby, iTunes, Amazon.com, and more; direct sales are available from www.TealCreekMusic.com.

THE A**HOLE IN MY HEAD is Kate Dawson’s fresh reinvention of cabaret, and makes her worst enemy (herself), into a hilarious, unseen, other character. Kate and the A**hole In Her Head battle it out through song and banter in a hilarious show filled with Broadway songs and witty dialogue. This is a one night only encore performance of a show that was listed by David Noh in the Gay City News as one of the Top Ten best live performances of 2009.

Monday, August 30th @ 7PM, Birdland, 315 W. 44th, New York City

Kate Dawson played Emily for three seasons in A Christmas Carol (at Madison Square Garden), sharing the stage with several Scrooge’s over the years, including Roddy McDowall, Hal Linden, Frank Langella and Tim Curry. The production was directed by Mike Ockrent, and choreographed by Susan Stroman. Other favorite credits include “Eileen” in Wonderful Town (opposite Lucie Arnaz & Cliff Bemis, directed by Don Amendolia), “Lili” in Carnival!, “Lydia” in The Rivals and “The Wardrobe Mistress” in Enter The Guardsmen. She has worked regionally at the 7 Angels Theatre, the Coconut Grove Playhouse, the Alabama Shakespeare Festival, Stages St. Louis, readings at the Manhattan Theatre Club and the Public Theatre among others. The A**HOLE IN MY HEAD is the first play Kate has written.

Kathleen Supove announces the release of her new CD THE EXPLODING PIANO on the MAJOR WHO MEDIA label. The CD release concert will be held on Tuesday, August 17, at Le Poisson Rouge at 158 Bleecker Street in New York City.

The concert starts at 7:30, with doors opening at 6:30.

In addition to performing music from the CD, there will be :

-Video by Joshue Ott to go with Anna Clyne’s piece ON TRACK.

-New video created live by Jennifer Stock for ISABELLE EBERHARDT DREAMS OF PIANOS by Missy Mazzoli.

-In addition, there will be a special guest, media/video artist Peter Schmideg “performing” a work he created and revised for this event, based on the performance artist Marge Cameron, and inspired by SUTRA SUTRA by Randall Woolf.

-REVOLUTION by Dan Becker will have a video specially designed for it by Safy Etiel (V.J. name: Sniper), an Israeli artist living in Berlin.

-Rounding out the show will be A SHAKING OF THE PUMPKIN by Michael Gatonska, which features his custom-designed accessories and is a video in itself.

Also: a fake fashion show, auction, contests, and…a discount on the new CD.